It was kind of obvious that Ashford's hunt for Marco was doomed, once Drummer backed out and then he gave her back the bottle for when he returned. Except now that his & Naomi's kid is revealed as part of his gang, the conflict is going to come from Naomi's whining about wanted to save him from Marco's influence, so they're going to have to give the little shit a free shot or two, they're going to create bigger risks and dangers, because when they do have a chance to end it quickly and cleanly, they can't because of the stupid kid. Who's a grown man, and participated in the murder of Klaes, so he should be perfectly acceptable collateral damage. Also, the addition of the Inaros boys to the show, even with the family drama, hardly makes up for the loss of David Strathairn.

OTOH, it looks like Bobbie might be able to join the Rocinante's crew. Now that Chrisjen's out of office, she's got limited resources to help Draper with the plot she uncovered, so the Roci crew are the logical ones to bring on board.

I have not read the books, and I am kind of nervous about trying books written by George Martin's assistant, after all the jokes Finish the Book George made about him.